Natural Born Killers (1994; directed by Oliver Stone)

I love this movie. It's wildly funny, very violent, giddily creative and features a dynamite cast (Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey, Jr., Tommy Lee Jones and Tom Sizemore, all at their absolute best). The story is (very loosely) based on the Charles Starkweather and Carol Fugate murder spree which also inspired "Badlands," but the two movies couldn't be more different. It's hard to imagine Terrence Malick portraying the adolescence of one of his characters as an X-rated TV sitcom starring Rodney Dangerfield (as Stone does, hilariously).

I've always had the feeling that it really loosened Stone up to be making a film which wasn't about Big Historical Events, and the picture is very fast-moving and quite short (for him). The first half (until the murderous couple are caught) is very good, but has a few minor missteps. The second half is flawless.

Special mention has to go to the soundtrack (produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails) which is almost as much fun as the film. All the music is great, but the best and most appropriate are the Leonard Cohen songs which open and close the film.

If possible, try to rent the "Director's Cut" version, which restores the many small cuts Stone had to make to get his "R" rating. Replacing them doesn't make the film any more violent, but it does make it even funnier.

All sorts of people have attacked this film because it tends to be popular with people who go on shooting sprees (like the one in Colorado). That's not the real reason, though. If somebody watched "Independence Day" and then decided to try to blow up the White House, nobody would be blaming Will Smith. People take the excuse to attach NBK because it is a disturbing film, and because Oliver Stone is not universally liked, and because a lot of what this film says is true. Instead of blaming him, they should have been heeding the warning.

Also Recommended:

With Juliette Lewis: Strange Days, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

With Tom Sizemore: Strange Days, Devil in a Blue Dress, Saving Private Ryan